LEGENDARY character Eric Boocock will take up a team manager’s role for one more night at Kyle Howarth’s Testimonial this Thursday (March 14, 7.30).

Dewsbury born ‘Booey’ enjoyed a fine racing career and was crowned British Champion in 1974.

He went on to manage England on the world stage in the 1980s before later becoming co-promoter and manager of Sheffield in 2008.

A shock move saw him become co-boss of the Tigers once again in 2016 and he has been a regular attendee at Owlerton since his retirement.

But with other commitments ruling out David Howe, Boocock will now step in and take charge of the Rest of the World side on Thursday.

It means Sheffield team manager Simon Stead will be going up against his own former boss - something he’s looking forward to before the Tru7 Group Tigers’ league campaign gets underway the following week at Oxford (Thursday, March 21).

Said Stead: “Personally, I love Eric.

“I rode under him at a couple of clubs and he’s a great guy who had a lot of influence on me throughout my career.

“So Eric is someone I’ve always held in high regard and had a great deal of respect for.

“It’s going to be great fun locking heads for Kyle’s testimonial on Thursday.”